Packet communication has proven technically reliable and commercially valuable for the communication of information which occurs in bursts, such as computer data and voice. The success achieved by packet communication relates in part to the fact that network bandwidth is not continuously required by one communicator but can be shared by many. Also packet communication can be readily handled by modern digital equipment.
A packet network path is established by call setup packets which traverse the packet network from an input port to an identified output port. Along the way network memories are updated so that network controller time is reduced for future packets which are to traverse the same path. A path established in this manner between two network ports is sometimes referred to as a virtual circuit.
Today, having multiple user devices, such as telephones and computer terminals, at one's disposal, is common. On many occasions communications from one individual to another may involve more than one type of user device. For example two people may be remotely communicating between their computer terminals while conversing on the telephone explaining their actions. It is important that the two portions of this type of communication be coordinated and easily controlled. The speech and typed information should arrive at the destination with approximately the same delay so that proper communication can be maintained and adding and removing channels should be as easy and transparent to the communicating individuals as possible.
Packet switching networks have been used to establish communication paths between multiple sources and multiple destinations. The devices however have been connected using multiple virtual circuits through the packet network. Coordinating communications over multiple virtual circuits is a difficult task. Time delays tend to be different for each path through the network. Adding channels can be difficult and time consuming since new path setup messages must be generated and transmitted through the network. Further, the coordination of different virtual circuits for purposes of transmission control e.g. flow control is a complex problem.
Digital packet communication is desirable for many of the types of communications occurring today. Arrangements and methods are needed which apply digital packet technology to simplify the above discussed multiple source and destination communication and which avoid the problems of communication coordination and control of the prior art.